Rays enter non-binding agreement to pursue stadium plan at Hillsborough College

TAMPA, Fla. -- The Rays have officially identified their preferred location for a new ballpark, the first step in a process that they hope will secure their long-term future in the Tampa Bay area.

The Hillsborough College District Board of Trustees on Tuesday afternoon voted unanimously to approve a non-binding memorandum of understanding with the Rays to pursue a partnership to redevelop the college’s approximately 113-acre Dale Mabry campus in Tampa in a project that would include a new stadium and mixed-use development.

The campus is located near Tampa International Airport, across Dale Mabry Highway from Raymond James Stadium and just south of George M. Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees’ Spring Training facility that the Rays used as their temporary home with Tropicana Field unavailable last year.

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) outlines a plan for the Rays and Hillsborough College to develop three key parts of the project: a new MLB stadium, a mixed-use development and new facilities for Hillsborough College.

“There's still great work ahead of us to be able to bring this to reality,” Rays CEO Ken Babby said in a press conference after the vote. “But what I can say with certainty is that we believe with conviction that we're going to be able to create a world-class work-live-learn-play development here in Tampa Bay, and we're very, very encouraged and pleased by today's outcome.”

Tuesday was only the first step in a lengthy process -- “an agreement to begin putting together a definitive agreement,” as Babby put it, and one the Rays took several times under previous owner Stuart Sternberg.

But it represents the start of what managing partner Patrick Zalupski called the new group’s “first and highest priority” -- finding a “forever home” in the Tampa Bay area, with a stated goal of opening in time for the 2029 season. The two sides have 180 days to exclusively negotiate and vote on a final agreement.

The group led by Zalupski, co-chair Bill Cosgrove and Babby officially took control of the Rays on Sept. 30. Since then, the Rays have been busy working to identify sites that would satisfy the criteria they laid out in their introductory press conference: “a great location and as much land as we can get,” specifically more than 100 acres.

The Hillsborough College site fits the bill, given its size and placement. During the meeting, Babby offered a little more about what the Rays have imagined for the site, if they come to an official agreement. Babby presented a conceptual plan that divided the area into three zones.

First is “Champions Quarter,” the site for a new ballpark and the surrounding amenities, located in the southeast corner at the intersection of Dale Mabry and W Tampa Bay Boulevard. Second is “Innovation Edge,” featuring Hillsborough College’s new facilities. Third is “The Canopy,” described as a “parkside neighborhood shaped by shade, greenery, belonging, and the rhythms of everyday life.” Through it all is “The Row,” a “signature street” running across the development.

Babby did not share any details about the Rays’ plan for the ballpark itself, although he noted they are working “feverishly” alongside architecture, design and planning firm Gensler as well as ballpark design firm Populous.

“That work is happening by the hour, every day and week, and we look forward to sharing more on that in the days and weeks to come,” Babby said.

Speaking at an unrelated news conference in Pinellas Park on Tuesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters he supports the partnership and wants to see the Rays succeed in the Tampa Bay area.

“Baseball can succeed in the Tampa Bay area. I have no doubt it can succeed,” DeSantis said. “I think you’ve got to have the right ownership. … I think that the new Rays ownership is committed to doing that.”

The new HC facilities, referred to in the MOU as the “College District,” would be located by the southwest corner of the property, facing North Lois Avenue, with the area retained by the college and not leased to the Rays. The document states that the Rays’ construction of the stadium and the mixed-use development “shall be done in a manner so as to minimize interference with HC’s operations and activities,” including the demolition of the current campus and the construction of temporary facilities.

Dr. Ken Atwater, president of Hillsborough College, said the partnership would be a “transformational opportunity” for the school and its students. Reimagining the Dale Mabry location would be a welcome development, he said, noting the more than $50 million in renovation the current campus needs.

“We’re excited to take this important step forward with the Rays and to help set the stage for the City and County as they move into the next phase of this process,” Hillsborough College Board of Trustees chair Gregory Celestan said. “Welcoming the Rays home to this site while creating a live, work, play and learn district is an extraordinary opportunity, and we’re ready to help get this project in motion.”

The rest of the property would be leased to the Rays for a term of “not less than 99 years,” according to the MOU, and the new stadium’s ownership would be transferred to Hillsborough County if public funding is required to develop it. The document did not provide any other details regarding the potential financing of the redevelopment project, except that the parties “will negotiate in good faith to agree on an ownership and financing structure.”

The Rays would be responsible for construction of the mixed-use development, according to the MOU, a project that “may consist of, but is not limited to, hotels, retail space, multifamily buildings, sports and health related buildings, commercial buildings, parking structures, restaurants and other related buildings.” The Rays would have “sole and exclusive control” over the mixed-use development while it’s being built and afterward.

That part of the project sounds a lot like The Battery Atlanta, the mixed-use development that contains the Braves’ Truist Park. Tampa Bay’s new owners have referenced The Battery on several occasions, visited the complex to study it and called it the “gold standard” for modern ballpark development.

The Rays are set to return to a repaired Tropicana Field this season, with their home opener set for April 6. Under the terms of their use agreement with the city of St. Petersburg, they will play three more seasons at the Trop while potentially building their next ballpark across the bay.

“Our organization is in many ways ambidextrous,” Babby said. “We're working as hard as we can to get ready for April and to bring our team back home to Tropicana Field, while at the very same time working to find that forever home that is so important in terms of our success.”